Oops. Texas Tea Party Senator Ted Cruz asked people on facebook if they’re better off, since the ACA took effect. He got the answer – not the one he wanted.

The Tea Party crusade against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hit a huge snag this week. On March 24, 2014, Texas Tea Party Senator, Ted Cruz, decided to put up a ‘quick poll,’ about the ACA on his facebook page. Problem? The Koch brothers don’t control the conversation on social media, the people do.

Ask a question, get an answer.

The question Rafael ‘Ted’ Cruz asked on facebook was simple. Are you better off now than you were before the ACA, also called Obamacare, was signed into law, four years ago?

Nearly 40,000 comments later, the resounding answer from people all across the country was YES.

People love the ACA.

People who responded to the question cited different reasons for saying that they’re better off since the ACA went into effect. Some pointed out that the ACA has saved them money, reduced their monthly premiums, and lowered deductibles and co-pays.

A large number of those who responded to Cruz’s ‘quick poll,’ said cited the ACA that prevents insurance companies from dropping people with a preexisting condition.

Others pointed to the laws requirement that young people be allowed to stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26.

Some pointed out that the law prevents insurance companies from putting lifetime limits on healthcare spending.

People pointed to the overall benefits of the ACA, including keeping the rising cost of medical care under control, which benefits everyone.

Many of those who responded cited the most important benefit one can imagine. ‘It saved my life.’

Not everyone said that Obamacare had helped them. There were intermittent responses from the tea party crowd. When called out, it quickly became apparent that the ‘no’ respondents had not signed up for the ACA or even reviewed their options, under the law.

There were people like this woman, who claims she doesn’t want insurance and won’t pay for it.

In spite of her professed ideology, she clearly has no problem shifting the burden of her healthcare onto the public. If she gets hurt in an accident or becomes sick, her options will be to file for bankruptcy, unless she has hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay her own medical expenses.

Not surprisingly, statistics show that red states have the highest rate of bankruptcy in the nation. Four out of the states with the highest number of personal bankruptcies are red. Medical debt accounts for more than 60 percent of all bankruptcies. What the tea party doesn’t get is that everyone in the country has been covering their medical expenses for years. Obamacare means no more free riders. Everyone who can afford to, has to contribute to the system. Maybe that’s what they’re so mad about, underneath the surface of all that patriotic, flag waving showmanship.

There’s nothing patriotic about driving healthcare costs up for everyone else in the country, because you falsely believe that being asked to pay taxes is unconstitutional. There’s nothing patriotic about bankrupting the medical system, because you take a ‘moral position’ against buying health insurance. There’s certainly nothing patriotic about using it as a weapon in order to try and shut down the government.

Besides the ‘I’m not gonna and you can’t make me’ crowd, there were those who were clearly just lying, like this guy:

For every ‘no’ answer Cruz received, there were dozens of yes answers. As of March 27, more than 6 million people had signed up for the ACA, exceeding the CBO’s estimate for the initial enrollment period. Millions more are reaping the benefits through expanded Medicaid, lower costs, free annual check-ups and preventative care and the assurance of knowing they can’t be dropped if they become sick.